This guide will explain how to repair a failed or loose DC power jack on a laptop computer yourself. Here’s my previous post related to DC power jack related issues.
Disclaimer: I’ve made these instructions only for people experienced with soldering and repairing computers. If you don’t feel comfortable doing this job, please do not open the laptop or you can permanently damage your computer. Take your laptop to a professional repair shop instead.
Use this repair guide at your own risk.
First of all, you’ll have to disassemble your laptop and remove the motherboard. Here are service manuals for some known laptop brands. Here are more Toshiba guides. If your laptop is not on the list, you’ll have to figure out yourself how to take it apart.
For this repair you’ll need the following tools.
1. Soldering iron or soldering station. I use Weller WES51 soldering station and for this job I set temperature to about 800-850°F.
2. I use high-tech rosin core silver-bearing solder from Radioshack with diameter 0.022″ ( Catalog #: 64-013 ). I think standard rosin core solder will work just fine.
3. Desoldering pump for removing solder around component leads. I use Edsyn Soldapullt pump, model DS 017.
4. 99% isopropyl alcohol and tooth brush for cleaning the motherboard from flux.
5. A new DC power jack, you can find a cheap one here.
Laptop DC power jack repair guide.
As you see on the following picture, the solder drop on the positive terminal looks different than on other three contacts. That’s where the problem is. The positive pin is not making a good contact with the motherboard and because of that power to the laptop cuts off when I move the power plug inside the power jack.
I’m going to desolder the power jack from the motherboard, clean contacts on both power jack and motherboard and then solder it back in place – this is the proper way fixing the power problem.
Start desoldering process with adding some new fresh solder to all three contacts. This will make old solder more flowable, easier to remove.
While heating one of the contacts, remove the solder from this contact using the desoldering pump. Repeat the same steps with all power jack contacts until you remove as much solder as possible.
Grab the power jack and carefully try removing it from the motherboard. Most likely you will not be able to remove the power jack the first time because there will be some solder bridges left between the contacts and traces on the motherboard. Carefully wiggle the power jack without applying any significant force and at the same time heat up all contacts one by one. This will help you to remove the power jack.
The DC power jack is almost removed from the motherboard.
Be careful. Inside the positive hole there is a copper sleeve which connects the terminal on one side of the motherboard with the traces on the other side. If you are removing the power jack with force, you can pull the sleeve from the hole. You don’t want to do that.
UPDATE: If you accidentally removed the internal sleeve, check out this post: How to fortify damaged power jack connection.
So, do not apply any force and make sure the solder is melted when you are removing the power jack. I hope you understand what I’m talking about.
After the power jack is removed, clean all oxidized contacts with a knife.
Apply a fresh coat of solder to all contacts on the power jack.
The power jack terminals will look dirty because of melted flux.
You can remove the flux using the tooth brush and alcohol. It’s not necessary but it will make your job looking clean.
Apply a fresh coat of solder to all power jack terminals on both sides of the motherboard.
This side has been coated.
And this side has been coated too.
Now you can install the power jack back on the motherboard. Put something under power jack so there is no gap between the jack and the motherboard. Now you are ready to solder the jack back in place.
Solder all power jack pins.
The job is done and the laptop DC power jack is fixed. B-E-A-utiful!
Now just install the motherboard back into the laptop and you are done.
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
July 23rd, 2008 at 3:10 pm
i have the Toshiba A70 laptop and the AC adaptor is not charging my laptop. i know theres a problem with the DC not connected to the motherboard right. so i took apart my laptop and try to solder it myself. when i’m finishe i plugged the AC to my DC and get this burning noise coming from the DC then it started to smell like sometings burning.
Did i short circuit something? if so, is it possible to fix it or did i fry my motherboard? i can still turn on my computer fine just not with the AC adaptor plugged. should i buy a new jack?
July 22nd, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Quophi,
Could be memory related problem. Try reseating memory. Move memory modules from one slot to another. Test the laptop with another known good memory module if you have it.
July 22nd, 2008 at 2:04 pm
David,
I’m not sure if you can make one but it’s likely that you can buy one. I’ve seen some external battery chargers for Dell laptops on the Internet. You can buy an external charger for Dell laptops here, they ship worldwide.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:59 am
Anytime I turn my laptop (hp dv 1000) the battery led is on but the machince wiil not boot.Explain to me what i can do to serve my machine
July 17th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
[...] You cannot simply unplug the jack and replace it with another one. You’ll have to unsolder the old jack and solder a new one back on the motherboard as I described in this post. [...]
July 16th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
I have a Dell Inspiron and had the original ac power supply burn out on it (no green light on the box, nothing on the voltometer) and found a third party adaptor that worked for charging. Then it stopped charging my battery and would not run the computer with the battery removed. No matter how much I wiggle it there are no flickering lights on the the ac indicator. I am in Taiwan where there are no Radio Shacks and only one Dell store (in a different town). I don’t have a soldering iron so it is in the repair shop and I have them looking at the power jack but I don’t hold out too much hope since I had no flickering lights. My question is there a way to make a standalone battery charger so that if my motherboard is fried (still runs the computer) that I can just charge the batteries seperate. Due to an error in shipping Dell sent me three batteries instead of one so I have plenty to charge and keep me in power. I would be interested in this even if I the the problem fixed.
Thank for the help and sorry for the long post
Desperate in Taiwan
July 4th, 2008 at 7:10 am
my laptop is just new and i hope to use the idea u have give mi.thanks.But do i need to replace a new jack for my laptop to work properly?the problem is that its jack port pin became loose.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
kyak,
Try the following. Unplug the AC adapter, remove the battery, wait for 2-3 minutes. Install the battery and plug in the AC adapter. Try turning on the laptop.
Maybe the adapter is bad? You can test the adapter with a voltmeter.
June 25th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
i got a nec laptop the other day.it worked fine at my friends house,but when i took it home i think i messed it up,i forgot it was plugged in and i removed the battery while it was plugged in now it doesnt show any leds when i plug it up,do you think i fried the mother board or something,help me pls its a really nice lap top and i got it for free would love to fix it…
June 25th, 2008 at 12:36 am
My A60 does not power p at all so i will try this method
as all that happens when i conect the power pack the pack starts to make this squeeking sound so im asumeing this is the problem I will post after i try this Thanx